Center-board for boats



(No Model.)

M. W. ATWOOD. Center Board for Boats. No. 230,989,

Patented Aug. 10, 1880.

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. llwrrsn TATES MONTRAVILLE \V. ATWOOD, OF CLAYTON, NEW YORK.

CENTER-BOARD FOR BOATS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 230,989, dated August 10, 1880.

(No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MoN'ritAvILLn W. Afr- WOOD, of Clayton, in the county of Jefferson and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Center Board for Boats, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide an effective center-board that may be applied to any boat, but is specially adapted to a rowboat, without interfering with the oarsinen, and be contained within a box that is watertight, excepting at its bottom or keel-opening, which box maybe arranged beneath thwart of the boat.

The invention consists of a center-board constructed of two or more pieces or leaves, so that they may be folded and opened and elevated and depressed at pleasure by means of a bolt and lever, said center-board being coir tained in a low box that is water-tight above the bottom of the boat.

Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of a midship section of the boat, representing the center-board down, on line x a Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional elevation of the same on line y y, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the main piece or leaf of the center-board. Fig. at is a side elevation of a second or auxilia-ry piece or leaf. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the two pieces of the center-boardadjusted on the bolt and unfolded and lowered.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

In the drawings, Arepresents a boat; B, the thwart of the boat; 0, the flooring of the boat; D, the keel of the boat. E is the center-board box, said box E being set centrally beneath the thwart B over a longitudinal opening through the keel D, said box E being watertight at all points within the said heat.

F is the main leaf of the center-board, consisting of a wood or metal plate whose upper section, which remains in the box E when the center-boardis lowered, has its top rounded, as shown, its front edge out perpendicularly down to a square shoulder, a, and its rear edge cut away on a slight inward slope and curve, I), while the lower section of said main leaf F is preferably of rectangular outline, as shown, and said leaf F is provided with a rectangular slot, 0, in its upper section, through which slot the adjusting king-bolt H passes.

G is the second or auxiliary leaf of the center-board, which, when lowered, laps partly over the leaf F. When lowered in position the front edge of said leaf G inclines forward at an angle of about forty-five degrees from the perpendicular, the lower rear corner is rounded, the bottom is cut oil" in a horizontal line, the front edge is parallel with the rear edge from the bottom of the leaf nearly to the center-board box E, and abovethat is cut away on a vertical line, as shown. Said leaf G is provided in its upper part, near its front edge, with a vertical slot, (1, that is narrow in the center and widens in fan shape ateach end, as shown. Said leaf G is also provided on its side near its rear edge with a stop, f, against which stop f the curved edge I) of the leaf F engages when the center-board is raised.

11 is the threaded kin g-bolt, cutaway or flattened longitudinally on opposite faces, so that it may freely enter the slots 0 (1, respectively, of the leaves F G, said king-bolt H having attached to its head a lever or handle, H, and having adjusted on its end a winged nut, I, and beingjournaled in the sides of the box IE.

Ordinarily center-boards are made in one piece and raised or lowered by chain or rope in a high center-board box, which is open at the top, such box being necessarily so high as to interfere with the oarsmen in the boat.

In the device herein shown the center-board is constructed in two parts or leaves, F G, and suspended on the flattened king-bolt H, so that when folded and raised they occupy but little space. Oonsequentlya low center-board box that can be placed beneath the thwart of the boat suffices to hold them.

In raising and folding the parts or leaves G F from the position shown in Figs. 1 and2 the leaf F is steadily swung upward until its curve I) strikes the stop f of the leaf G, until then the leaf G not being moved, because of the shape of its slot 1), when, on the further turning of the said king-bolt H, the two leaves are raised together into the box E above the keel D. In lowering the said center-board, by turning the king-bolt H by means of the lever H the leaf F is first unfolded and turned down,

because of the shape of the slot 0, into which the flattened shank of the king-bolt H exactly tits, while the leafG is not moved until the king-bolt H is turned diagonally in the slot (1 of the said leafG. The leaf F hangs perpendicularly down, because it is cut away at its upper front edge to form the square shoulder a, and to thereby clear the end of the box IE, while the leaf G is held at the angle shown in Figs. 1 and 2, because of the shape and position of the slot (1. I

This center-board may be held in any position by tightening the nut I on the king-bolt H, and is adjusted more readily by means of the lever H than it could be by chain or rope. The king-boltH being placed near the upper end of said center-board, and the front edge of the leaf F being cut away to form the shoulder, admits of the greater portion of the said board being lowered below the keel.

The center-board box E is kept water-tight by placing the washers l I about the bolt H and against the sides of said box, so that when the nut I is iirmly turned down the said washers are so compressed to fill the joints that there can be no leak about said bolt.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The herein-described center-board, consisting of the leaf F, provided with the rectangular slot 0, the shoulder a, and the inclined and curved edge I), the leaf G, provided with the double-fan-shaped slot (1 and "the stop f, and the flattened kingbolt H, passed through the slots of the said leaves and provided with the lever-handle H, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a center-board, the combination, with the leaf F, provided with rectangular slot 0, rectangular shoulder a, and inclined and curved edge b, of the leaf G, provided with double-fanshaped slot (1 and stop substantially as herein shown and described.

3. In a center-board, the combination, with the center-board box E, the leaf F, provided with the rectangular slot 0, the shoulder a, and the inclined and curved edge I), and the leaf G, provided with the double-fan-shaped slot at and the stop f, of the flattened king-bolt H, provided with the lever-handle H and the nut I, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

MONTRAVILLE W. ATWOOD.

Witnesses:

SoLoN H. JOHNSON, JAMES L. A'rwooi). 

